I don't own Cyberchase. Max is mine. Also, the name Absolem and the line "He's absolute. He's Absolem" comes from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I kind of have mixed feelings about that movie. I like it, but at the same time I thought it was a little wierd. I mean, it's the only alice in wonderland movie i've seen that actually made sense - if alice in wonderland could make sense.

Chapter Four
The Sash

"Look at yourself, Max. You used to be impulsive and impatient. You wanted to be somewhere and you wanted to be there now. Yet, here you are. What has changed?" Master Pi's low, mellow voice said.

Max continued to keep her gaze away from her teacher. "A lot of things have changed, Master."

"But why did it change? You are not yourself. You seem to be reflecting on a great deal here." Master Pi said.

"Because I have a great deal to think about." Max said.

"Your mission?"

"Yes."

"Ah. You do not think you are ready."

That time, Max looked at him. "How did you know that?"

"I know a lot of things about you, little one." Master Pi said. "You have been given this task for a single purpose. Aside from Motherboard, you have suffered most. The virus makes Motherboard sick, but it does not cause her pain. You have been down the road of pain. He has hurt you. Therefore, it must be you."

"But Master, I am not read. I'm – I'm not strong enough." Max protested.

"What makes you say that, little one?"

Max looked back at the reflection pond. "Before I was captured, I was leaving Cybersite Foresteria. I had paid a visit to Absolem the Deserter. Absolem told me I would fail because I seek vengeance. He said that unless I open my heart to forgiveness, I will never succeed."

Master Pi was silent and Max realized she shouldn't have visited Absolem – nor should she have told Master Pi that she had seen the deserter. Max sighed.

"He also told me that because I did not become a Shield-maiden, I am unprepared." She added.

"Ah yes. The title of Shield-maiden. Did I ever tell you that I was about to give you the colors?" Max shook her head. "I was. But you decided to head for home before I could give you the colors. You were overanxious . . impulsive . . . impatient."

"I think we established that." Max said.

"Yes, we did." Master Pi agreed. He placed a thin hand in Max's mane and a gentle growl vibrated her throat. "When you first came to our site and begged for me to accept you and teach you our was, I was reluctant to do so. You were only three when you came, but you acted so much older. Even so, I could see you were unprepared for what lay ahead. I considered turning you away, but then I saw the value of passing the knowledge of our art to a young borg such as yourself."

"Is that why you took me in, Master? Is that why you chose to accept me?"

"That was, and always will be, my reasoning, little one. If I was ever rough on you, that is because I knew you could do so much better than you are. When you left, I did know I pushed you too hard to do everything I asked, but I also knew you were too impatient to wait."

"What did you do, Master – after I left, I mean." Max asked, her head went down, sheepishly.

"I chose to wait and see if you would return, and you did. Though not in the way I was hoping." Master Pi patted her head, his slim arm fitting neatly through the spiraling horns that curved backwards over her skull top.

"I know." Max said. "I didn't expect to return this way either."

They were, again, silent. Both watched the koi swim in the reflection pond.

Max sighed ans shook her head until her mane fluttered and settled back into place. Her ears – which had been somewhat droopy due to a lack of energy – flicked back.

"Master, am I really ready for this? I mean, truly ready?"

"It does not really matter what I think. The question is, what do you think?"

"Absolem doesn't think I'm ready. He says I'm running and that I will surely fail. He says I'll fail because I want vengeance and I can't forgive him for doing what he did to me."

"There, Absolem would be right." Master Pi said.

Max sighed again. "So I'm not ready."

"Not quite so, dear one. Absolem has lived for a great many eons. He has gained much wisdom. But he tends to lord his knowledge over others in return for snalfus and trinkets. He left our order for reasons of his own devising. He felt our order was suppressing his wisdom with our rules. He left us and no longer speaks to us."

"I always assumed as much." Max said.

"Little one, you have just given me the opinion of someone else. But you did not answer my question. I asked you if you thought you were ready, but you said Absolem did not think you were, not that you did not think you were. I ask you again, do you think you are ready?"

"Master, if I was not ready to accept being a Shield-maiden then how am I ready to accept this task? I was not programmed to be a killer." Max said.

"Those, little one, are excuses. You were not programmed for a lot of things, yet you did them. You were not programmed to be a warrior, yet you trained to be one. You were not programmed to be turned into a gargoyle, yet you were. You were not programmed to be tortured, mutated, mutilated, and nearly deleted, yet you were. Do not say that this task goes against your programming."

"But it does. Dad never meant for this to happen."

"Your father never meant for a lot of things to happen, little one, yet they did. When he created you-know-who, he was building an assistant not knowing this assistant would go bad. When he built you, he was building a daughter not knowing she would be the savior of our world."

"Some savior I am." Max snorted. "I'm not even strong enough to escape the effects of a tranq. Nor was I able to outrun the Grimm Wreaker."

"Do not think of yourself as weak, Max Marbles. Tranquilizers were developed during the period of war between borgs and gargoyles. Motherboard had banned them, however people can still get a short supply of them these days. Because it was developed to work against gargoyles and you are now a gargoyle, of course you would have been effected by it."

Max was not really willing to accept that explanation. "Maybe we need to get those darts banned completely."

"Maybe." Master Pi said, nodding sagely.

Again, both were silent. Then,

"Max Marbles, are you prepared to accept your role as Defender of Cyberspace and Warrioress of Shangri-La?"

Max turned to face her teacher and knelt as best as her large body would allow. "Yes, Master."

"A Shield-maiden lies in wait. A Shield-maiden does not rush into battle. A Shield-maiden waits for the appointed time. And a Shield-maiden knows when enough is enough. Do you agree to learn these conditions I have just given you? To practice our art to the fullest extent of your ability? To observe our laws and put them into practice everyday of your life?"

"Yes Master." Max said.

"A Shield-maiden does not harbor anger, hate, or vengeance in her heart. A Shield-maiden knows when to love and forgive someone for their faults. And, above all, a Shield-maiden must not hold her enemy's faults above them lest she be judged for her faults. Do you agree to these conditions I have just given you? To practice our art to the fullest extent of your ability? To observe our laws and put them into practice everyday of your life?"

"Yes Master." Max said.

Master Pi reached into the fold of his wide, blue sleeve and withdrew a red sash trimmed with gold. A blue shield was sewed into the shoulder with the golden Pi symbol emblazoned over it. Max lifted her right forepaw and shifted her damaged right wing as best as she could while Master Pi placed the sash over her head and snapped it shut at her right hip.

"I now name you, Max Marbles, Shield-maiden of Shangri-La." Master Pi said as he touched Max's forehead with his staff.

Max knelt, again. Eons of self-discipline taught her not to hug or lick her teacher as that was not up to warrior standards.

"Thank you, Master." She said.

"Now, I must depart. You should get some rest to recover your strength. But first, there are some who wish to speak with you."